Sunday, March 3, 2013
How Polls Affect Local Politicians
In class we discussed the benefits and detriments of polls for politicians in big races, such as the race for presidency. We do not, however, see many polls for local elections. When I went to vote in November, I must admit that I did not know many of the people running for the various local positions. One huge benefit presidential candidates receive from polls is exposure. America hears about the possible candidates in the various polls that are published and in turn become familiar with their names, political views, and history. Local candidates do not get this kind of exposure, and this may affect how many voters they get. They must find more creative ways to reach voters in their area.
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I agree with you, but I also wonder if the media would even agree to more publicity for local candidates. It would definitely take away from their air time for the presidential "horse race." Also, sadly, I do think that a lot of the race has to do with how much money a candidate can spend on publicity (and frankly, local candidates don't have that much for such campaigns, let alone the necessary contacts for organizations and institutions to provide enough funding). To go along with your idea for more exposure for candidates, I think there should be a strict amount of money being able to be used for campaigns so other candidates do not get an unfair advantage. After all, I think a lot of people care more about the candidate's ideas and opinions more than how much money they have to use for commercials. Of course this is highly unlikely, but a good idea nonetheless!
ReplyDeleteCaitlin,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you that there should be a set amount of money that candidates can use for publicity as a way of promoting equal opportunity for all candidates. I do think that the use of polls would enhance the general public's knowledge about more local political races. Without these polls, citizens can be uniformed about what stances particular candidates hold, and can end up simply not voting for a specific office. Conversely, without valuable information provided by polls, citizens can end up basing their vote on something arbitrary rather than on issues that matter to the candidates.